ha-1582 bata shoe company, site - maryland historical trust · the bata shoe company factory...

HA-1582

Bata Shoe Company, site

Architectural Survey File

This is the architectural survey file for this MIHP record. The survey file is organized reverse-

chronological (that is, with the latest material on top). It contains all MIHP inventory forms, National

Register nomination forms, determinations of eligibility (DOE) forms, and accompanying documentation

such as photographs and maps.

Users should be aware that additional undigitized material about this property may be found in on-site

architectural reports, copies of HABS/HAER or other documentation, drawings, and the “vertical files” at

the MHT Library in Crownsville. The vertical files may include newspaper clippings, field notes, draft

versions of forms and architectural reports, photographs, maps, and drawings. Researchers who need a

thorough understanding of this property should plan to visit the MHT Library as part of their research

project; look at the MHT web site (mht.maryland.gov) for details about how to make an appointment.

All material is property of the Maryland Historical Trust.

Last Updated: 02-18-2004

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MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST NR-ELIGIBILITY REVIEW FORM

NR Eligible: yes _ no

Property Name: Bata Shoe Company lnventory Number: _HA_-_15'-8_2 ___________ _ Southeast side of U.S. 40, between U.S. 40

Address: and the B usn River City: Belcamp Zip Code: 21017 - - -----County: _H_a_rfi_o_rd _________ USGS Topographic Map: Pemnan, MD Quadran~le

Owner: unknown

Tax Parcel Number: Tax Map Number: Tax Account ID Number: - - - ---- --------Project: Wireless Facility; 1205 Belmar Drive Agency:

Name: Date: Site visit by MHT Staff: no __ yes - - ------- --- ---------Eligibility recommended Eligibility not recommended _K_

Criteria: _A __ B_C_D Considerations: A B C D E F G None -- -- -- -- -- -- - - --

Is the property located within a historic district? _L no __ yes Name of district: -------------

Is district listed? no _yes Determined eligible? __ no __ yes District Inventory Number:

Documentation on the property'district is presented in: National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn; Maryland Historical Trust Inventory Form (MAGI # 1315825814)

Description of Property and Eligibility Determination: (Use contfn11ation sheet if ni!Cessary and auach map and phoro)

The Bata Shoe Company was originally listed on the National Register of Historic Places under both Criterion A, for history and Criterion C, for architecture on February 14, 1996. The buildings originally extant on the property conveyed a sense of the Modem movement of architecture, exhibiting trends and characteristics apparent in the architecture of the Bauhaus style. The ideas of unity of theory in architecture and industry were conveyed through the original factory buildings, as well as through the corresponding workers' housing and hotel. However, the majori ty of the buildings on the property has been demolished since the 1996 National Register nomination was completed. The workers· housing and the hotel have been tom down, and the remaining factory buildings are slated for demolition during the summer of 2002. (The only physical remnant that will remain is the water tower.) The Bata Shoe Company no longer conveys the architectural characteristics that made it eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion C.

The lack of all historic structures on the property and the subsequent redevelopment of the property as a modem resort also renders the property ineligible under Criterion A, for history. No physical remnants of the Bata Shoe Company will remain, and no historic fabric relating to the site will be extant. The history of the property as an intact factory complex from the mid-twentieth century has been lost due to modem development.

Prepared by: Mary S. Alfson. Project Manager Date Prepared: _Jun_e_6""''-2"'"00'-2 ___ ____ _

ARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST REVIEW ligibility recommended iQ._ Eligibility not recommended riteria: L A __ B£C __ D Considerations: A B C D E F None

omments: ~-L..1~~L....J...u.....u~i..u,~-i..j~l)3J.!14~::U.-t-...3'!:~-1'f..U-...t:JJ1..1...M:ti---1.JU..u.;l..l.l.o~;.,.......L.11..w.;.iu....:llllt:.L.._=i~~~'4---I

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NATIONAL REGISTER BOUNDARY

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QUADRANGLE LOCATION SCALE

Oft ...-Om

2000ft I

609.6m

Prepared by CHRS, Inc.

PROPOSED WIRELESS TOWER

BELCAM P, MARYLAND HARFORD COUNTY

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SOURCE

USGS 1984 PERRYMAN, MD

USGS 1985 EDGEWOOD, MD

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NPS Form 10«IO (Ocl 19911)

United States Department of the ln1erlor National Park Service

,.\jational Register of Historic Places Registration Form

1. Name of PropertY

OMB No 10024-0018

This form may also be used for entering properties into the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties and the Maryland Register of Historic Properties.

tNstoricname Bata Shoe Company Complex

othernameslsitenumber __ H_A_-_1_5_8_2 ______________________________ __

2. Location

street g number Southeast side of U.S. 40, between U.S. 40 N/~ not for publication and the Bush River

0 vicinity

state __ M_a_r_y.._l_a_n_d ____ code .1!!L__ county ~H;.;;.a;..;;r;...;f;;...o;;...r;.;;...;;..d ____ _ code 025 zipcode 21017

3. State/Federal Agency Certification

As the designated authority under the National Historic: Preservation Act. as amended, I her9by certify 1hat this 0 nominalion ti{l reQuest for determination al eligibility meets the documentation standards tor Algistering propetties in the NaJjonaJ Register of Hisionc Places and meets the ptOC«tural and professiOnal requirements Mt torth in 36 CFR Part 80. In my opinion, the property !!Cl meets 0 does not meet the National Register criteria. I rwc:ommend that this property be conaidered lignificant 0 nat1ona11y Gl llatewide 0 1oc:a11y. cD s.e continuation lheel for lldditional comments.)

Sognature of certifying olficialfTdle Date

State of f9deral agency and bureau

In my opinion. the property CQ meets 0 does not meet the National Register criteria. (0 See continuation lheel for 9dcliti0nal comments.)

Signature of certifying otficialfTltle

State or Federal agency and bureau

4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify tnal the property is:

0 entt!t'ed 1n the National Regtster. 0 See continuatiOn sheet.

0 determined eliglble tor the National Register

0 See continuation sheet

0 determined nol eligible tor the ~uonal Register.

0 retnOYed from the National Register.

0 other, (explain:)-----

Date

Signature of the Keeper Dale ot Action

Bata Shoe Company Complex HA-1582 ... ~~a."auo~ r:o_ni. page ' Harford Coun~y, Maryiana

Name al PfOl*l1 site/inventory nUllber County Md Slat•

5. Classtficatlon -Ownership of Property

'heck as many boxes a aPP'V)

~private 0 public-local 0 public-state 0 public-Federal

Category of Property (Check only one box)

0 building(•) IJ district Datta 0 structure 0 object

Name of related multiple property Hating (Enter ""NIA"" If property is not p.n ol •multiple property lltlng.)

N/A

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions (Enter cat.gories from lnllruc:tions)

INDUSTRY/Manufacturing facility

INDUSTRY/ industrial storage

DOMESTIC/single dwelling IXJMESTIC/mult1ple dWell1ng

DOMESTIC/hotel

7. Description ArchHectural Classification (Enter categories from inslruc:tions)

MOBERN MOVEMENT/Bauhaus

Narrative Description

Number of Resources within Property (Do noC Include previously listed resources in the court.)

Contributing Noncontributing 24 8

0 0 lites

1 0 structures 5 0

objects 3o 8

TOia!

Number of contributing resources previously listed In the National Register

N/A

Current Functions (Enter categories from lnltructiona)

INDUSTRY

VACANT

VACANT VACANT

VACANT

Materials (Enter categories from Instructions)

foundation CONCRETE

walls CONCRETE, BRICK, GLASS

CONCRETE, ASPHALT SHINGLE roof~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

other~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Describe the historic and c:unM condition ol ltl8 property on one or more continuation sheets.)

PLACE NARRATIVE ON CONTINUATION SHEETS See Continuation Sheets

National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet

Section No. 7 Page 1

BA-1582 Bata Shoe Company Factory Complex Harford County

SUMMARY ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

Contributing Resource Count: 30

The Bata Shoe Company factory complex is located at the southeast side of U. s. Route 40 at its intersection with Bata Drive in southeastern Harford County. The 14. 75-acre property is defined on the north and south ends by U.S. 40 and the Bush River respectively. The factory complex consists of 30 contributing historic resources, including 24 contributing historic residential and industrial buildings, a tennis court , and five lampposts. These buildings date from 1938-1939 and consist of the industrial and processing buildings connected with manufacturing operations of the Bata Shoe company, as well as residences for its workers and management. The three largest buildings, the factory, the hotel/community center, and the office/warehouse buildings, are multi-story, concrete frame, brick-faced buildings in a sophisticated interpretation of the Bauhaus architectural style. Residences at the complex include 19 modest two-story brick duplexes, as well as several large brick homes built along the river for the company's management. There are eight noncontributing buildings on the complex, consisting of later residences and an industrial building from the 1980s. The complex retains much of its original setting and layout, and possesses a good level of integrity.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

General Description of Setting

The Bata Shoe Company factory complex is located on the southeast side of U.S. Route 40 (Pulaski Highway) at its intersection with Bata Drive, two miles southwest of the town of Aberdeen in southeastern Harford County. The 14. 75-acre property is defined by U.S. Route 40 on the north and northeast, the Bush River on the south and southeast, and legal property lines on the east and west. The surrounding topography is flat and mostly open, with land use consisting of a mix of residential and light industrial.

The factory complex consists of 3 O contributing historic resources, consisting of industrial and residential buildings built between 1938 and 1939. There are 24 contributing historic buildings, as well as five metal lampposts (contributing objects), and an abandoned tennis court (contributing site) . There are eight noncontributing buildings, consisting mainly of residences from the 1950s or 1960s, as well as an industrial building from the 1980s. Most of the buildings are in fair to good condition and the overall complex retains a good level of integrity. The condition and



HA-1582 Bata Shoe Company Factory Complex Harford County

integrity of individual resources is addressed in the building descriptions that follow.

The main entrance to the complex is at the intersection of Bata Drive and U.S. 40. Private roads and parking lots serve all of the buildings on the complex and are as originally laid out in 1938-1939. Bata Drive runs south of the main entrance, passing the shoe factory building and its parking lot before forking just south of the lot. The west fork, Belcamp Road, runs along the Bush River, passing six residences before rejoining Bata Drive. Bata Drive then continues east as Third Avenue, passing an additional four residences before terminating at a dead end on the east. Two roads branch off of Bata Drive to the east near the factory building. First Street runs in an easterly direction before terminating at the warehouse/office building. Second Street runs east past several duplexes, before terminating at an open field. A Street, B Street, c Street, and D Street connect the east-west streets.

The complex consists of industrial and residential buildings laid out over a wide area and surrounded by grassy open spaces. Some of these open areas apparently were once used as recreational fields, and there is an abandoned tennis court located north of Third Avenue and west of B Street. According to Barbara Higgins, the court was put in during the 1950' s. The landscaping consists mainly of native trees and shrubs planted close to the buildings. Most trees appear to date from the 1938-1939 period of construction, however. Many of the trees planted along the streets around the duplexes, and along First street between the duplexes and the warehouse are pollarded (pruned so as to produce a thick bushy top) . There is a large stand of pine trees located immediately to the south of the hotel/community center building, totally obscuring the building's south facade. Norway maple trees are planted along First and Second Streets, as well as the two connecting streets. Large oak, maple, sycamore and tulip poplar trees shade the residences along the Bush River.

INDIVIDUAL BUILDING DESCRIPTIONS

Each building in the complex is described and keyed to the accompanying map labelled "Bata Shoe Company Factory Complex (1995) . All buildings are contributing resources unless otherwise noted.

Bata Shoe Company Factory Building

Exterior Description

The Bata Shoe Company Factory Building is located at the entrance




to the factory complex at Bata Drive and U.S. 40. It is a fivestory, multi-bay, concrete-frame building with brick exterior walls. The original structure, constructed in 1939, measures 260 by 86 feet and consists of brick and glass bays defined by the concrete frame which is visible on the exterior wall surface.

Several alterations to the building over the years have created additional bays and a large one-story extension to the southwest which almost completely surrounds the first floor of the original factory. A solid beige-colored brick wall on the northeast corner of one of the additions has a large vertical sign with the company's logo at the top.

Interior Description

The Bata Shoe Company Factory Building is still producing shoes. It was not possible to get access to the interior of the working factory.

Bata Shoe Company Hotel/CoDDDunity Center Building


The Bata Shoe Company Hotel/Community Center Building is located on the southwest side of Belcamp Drive, 1/4 mile south of the entrance to the Bata Shoe Company factory complex on U.S. Route 40 (Pulaski Highway) in Bel camp, Maryland. The building is oriented northeastsouthwest with its principal orientation on the northwest. The building is referred to as "the Hotel," although it served as permanent residence and community center, rather than a hotel, or transitory residence. The building is in fair condition.

The Hotel/Community Center Building, erected in 1939 in the Bauhaus International Style, is a 5-story, 13-bay, concrete-frame building with a brick in-fill exterior. The first story of the principal (north) facade consists of four projecting window bays (now boarded up) topped by a flat, metal awning. A central 3-bay, 1 1/2-story entrance porch features plain metal columns, curved ends and a decorative brick cornice.

Each story of the building is marked by a horizontal white concrete strip. There is a 3-bay-wide balcony with decorative brick facing at the center of each story on the north facade. There are plate glass windows on the second story, with paired 6/1 sash windows on the stories above. A metal railing runs along the top of the building. Set back from this is an additional story, also topped by a railing.


HA-1582

Section No. 7 Page 4 Bata Shoe Company Factory Complex Harford County

There is a one-bay projecting stair tower on both the east and west ends of the building. The corners of these towers are defined by concrete strips and tiers of casement windows. Projecting darkercolored bricks define the window openings. Three rows of glass blocks form the cornice of the towers.

On the south elevation a central 7-bay-wide, 1-bay-deep stair tower rises 5 1/2 stories. The center five bays of this tower are defined by darker colored projecting vertical brick strips and ribbon windows. The cornice consists of seven rows of glass bricks. The tower is flanked by 20-pane casement windows. The tower is stepped back at the top, has a metal railing, and is topped by a 2-bay-wide, flat-roofed brick monitor with glass-block windows. Windows with 6/1 sash are used on the rest of the building.


The main entrance on the north leads to a large central lobby flanked by small offices and reception rooms, as well as the large room on the west. At the south end are two elevators and doors leading to the south stairwell. The wall space above the elevators is painted in a multi-colored geometric design in an abstract Art Deco style. The central feature of this design is a wall clock above the elevators.

Bata Shoe Company Office/Warehouse


The Bata Shoe Company Off ice/Warehouse building is located at the east end of First Street, 3/8 mile southeast of the entrance to the Bata Shoe Company factory complex in Belcamp, Maryland. (Building #3 on the accompanying map.) The building is oriented east-west, with the principal facade on the west. The building is in fair condition.

The Bata Shoe Company Office/Warehouse building was erected in 1939 in the Bauhaus/International Style. It is a 3-story, 14-bay-wide, 3-bay deep, concrete-frame building with brick in-fill walls and a flat roof. There are projecting 3-bay pavilions at each corner of the building, whose corners are defined by darker-colored bricks. White concrete strips mark each story of the building, as well as each bay, creating a complex grid pattern. Each bay on all four facades has paired 8-pane casement windows.

A 4-bay, flat-roofed projecting stair tower with projecting eaves is at the center of four bays of

slightly the west




elevation. The main exterior feature of this tower is the 3-bay, 2-story recessed opening marked by concrete strips and five rows of glass blocks. A small iron balcony with railing extends across the second story of this recessed opening. The tower is topped by a 1-story, 1-bay brick monitor with glass-block windows.

The building is three bays deep. Dark-colored bricks are used beneath the cornice on the north and south elevations. There are two small single-door entrances on the south elevation. Ribbon windows run along the entire length of the east elevation. A 1-story, shed-roofed frame addition dating from the 1970s extends along four bays of the west facade.


The main entrance on the west leads to a central stair hall containing two elevator shafts and a stair well. This hall is flanked by a small glass-enclosed office, at whose entrance were located the former time-clock and time-card holders, and a boiler room on the north. Double doors on the east lead to a large open store room extending the full width of the building. This large room is fully lit by windows on all four sides and was once used as warehouse storage space. A small metal conveyor belt runs from the floor above, through this room, and out through an opening on the west wall to the outside.

The second and third floors also contain large, open warehouse storage space, in addition to the central stair hall, and smaller auxiliary rooms (probably offices) off these central halls. The concrete stairs rise in two stages and have a simple metal railing. The stair hall is lit by the glass block windows on the west wall.

Bata Shoe Company Duplexes (Duplexes 1 through 19)

General Exterior Description

There are 19 brick duplexes built for the workers of the Bata Shoe Company standing in a row along First, Second, and B Streets, beginning 1/8 mile south east of the main entrance of the Bata Shoe Company factory complex in Belcamp, Maryland. (Duplexes 1 through 19 on the accompanying map) .

Although each building is slightly different in appearance, and no two buildings are exactly alike, they do share many basic similarities. All of the duplexes are two stories tall and of brick construction with flat or slightly pitched asphalt shingle roofs. Many units are given visual interest by the use of




rusticated stone around the main entrance or along the foundation. Each half of the duplex has a separate and well-defined entrance on the street facade. All windows have 6 /1 sash. There is also usually a rear entrance for each unit, as well as two entrances to the cellar and boiler room. Most of the buildings are unoccupied and are boarded up. They are in either fair or poor condition.

Interior plans consist of a living room, a dining room, and kitchen on the first floor, with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor.

Buildings are oriented toward the street and have unfenced yards. Large Norway maple trees stand in a row on either side of the street in front of each house.

Individual descriptions of the duplexes follow. Each duplex is identified by its location on the accompanying map.

Duplex 1

Duplex 1 is located on the south side of First Street. It is a 2-story, 6-bay-wide brick building laid in Flemish bond on all four elevations. Vertical bricks are used as jackarches above the 6/1 sash windows and as ledges below each window. The building has a flat roof with slightly projecting eaves and a wooden cornice. Two projecting brick entrance vestibules are at the northeast and northwest corners. There is also a side entrance on the east and west elevations. There are two partly above-ground cellar entrances on the south (rear) elevation.

Windows and doors are presently boarded up and the building is in fair condition.

Duplex 2

Duplex 2 is located on the south side of First Street. It is similar in plan and massing to Duplex 1, with several differences apparent primarily on the front facade. The duplex has a rusticated granite foundation extending one-third of the way up the first story of the front facade only. Brick headers are used to define a water table above the stonework. The two projecting entrance vestibules are faced with granite. This duplex is unoccupied and is in fair condition.

Duplex 3

Duplex 3 is at the northwest corner of First and A Streets. It is




still occupied and retains most of its original 6/1 sash windows intact. The wooden front doors are panelled and have small 6-pane windows. Otherwise it is identical to duplex 1. The right (east) half of the duplex was available for interior inspection. The first floor consists of a small entrance vestibule, a separate living room and dining room, and a kitchen. There is simple, flat, wooden trim around window and door openings. The kitchen has built-in cabinets and shelves, and a narrow doorway leads to the cellar stairs. The kitchen floor is covered with linoleum; all other rooms feature pine floors.

An open staircase with plain wooden railing leads to the second floor which contains two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a linen storage closet. Each bedroom contains two small clothes closets. The bathroom is lit by a single glass-block window.

Duplex 4

Duplex 4 is located on the south side of First Street, east of B Street. It is virtually the same as Duplex 1, except that rusticated granite blocks alternate with brick around the two front entrances. The duplex is unoccupied and is in fair condition.

Duplex 6

Duplex 6 is located on the south side of Second Street. It differs in several respects from the previously described duplexes. It is not laid in Flemish bond and features grey brick for the window jack arches and lintels. Bricks are also laid in a decorative corbelled pattern below the roof cornice. There is an additional two-bay wing at the east (probably a later addition) . The duplex is unoccupied and in fair condition.

Duplex 7

Duplex 7 is located on the south side of Second Street. It is similar to duplex 6. A wooden shed-roofed porch, painted white, extends from the west elevation. The building is unoccupied and is in poor condition. Because it was accessible, a floor plan was prepared of the western of the two units in Duplex 7.

Duplex 8

Duplex 8 is located on the north side of First Street, directly across from Duplex 1. It is virtually the same as Duplex 1 except that the two side entrances have small metal awnings with scalloped edges. The building is in fair condition.



Duplex 9


Duplex 9 is located on the south side of First Street. It features rusticated stonework half way up the front of the projecting front vestibules. In addition the entrance vestibules have pitched gable roofs, unlike the more usual flat roofs seen on most of the other duplexes.

Duplex 10

Duplex 10 is located on the north side of First Street and is the most easterly of the duplexes. Although generally similar in appearance to the other duplexes, it features an additional bay on the east end with a wooden overhang. This additional bay may have served as a garage, although its windows and doors are boarded up, obscuring its original function and appearance. The building is in poor condition.

Duplexes 11 and 12

Duplexes 11 and 12 are located on the north side of First Street and are nearly identical to Duplex 1. Both are unoccupied and are in poor condition.

Duplex 13

Duplex 13 is located on the north side of First Street. It generally follows the same model as the previously described duplexes. However, rusticated stonework is used only around the entrance vestibule. There is no stone facing along the foundation as seen on Duplex 2. The building is unoccupied and in fair condition.

Duplex 14

Duplex 14 is located on the south side of Second Street. It is similar to duplex 6. Peach-colored brick is used as trim around doors and windows.

Duplexes 5 and 15

Duplexes 5 and 15 are located on the north side of Second Street, but opposite duplexes 6 and 7 respectively. They are identical to duplex 7, except that they lack the wooden porch.

Duplexes 16, 17, 18, and 19

Duplexes 16, 17, 18, and 19 are located on the east and west sides




of B Street between First and Second Streets. The four duplexes all resemble Duplex 1 except that they are not laid in Flemish bond. Header and stretcher bricks alternate in a narrow band around door and window openings. The entrance vestibules have flat roofs. The duplexes are unoccupied and in fair condition.

Houses (Houses 1 through 10)

Ten single-family houses and associated outbuildings are located along Belcamp Drive and third Avenue and the Bush River. Most of these residences are still in use and are occupied. Each contributing building is described and keyed to the accompanying map.

Houses 1 and 2 (Non-contributing resources)

Houses 1 and 2 are two single-family houses located on the south west side of Belcamp Drive on the Bush River. Both are oneand-one-half-story, three-bay, gable-roofed frame houses. Both buildings appear to predate 1938 and are outside the complexes's period of significance.

House 3 (Non-contributing resource)

House 3 is a single-family house located on the southwest side of Belcamp Drive on the Bush River. It is a one-and-one-half-story three-bay-wide and five-bay-long hipped roof frame house covered with dark-brown shingles. The house has a partially enclosed porch on its river elevation, hipped roof dormers with paired 2/2 sash and a clipped gable on the front facade. It is in fair condition. This building was not constructed as part of the Bata Shoe company complex, and does not contribute significantly to the architectural theme or to the history of the complex.

House 4 71 Belcamp Drive (Non-contributing resource)

House 4 is a single-family house located on the south side of Belcamp Drive and the Bush River. It is a one-story, four-bay, gable-roofed brick rambler-style house dating from the late 1930s or early 1940s. There is an attached one-story, one-bay garage on the north. Most windows have four-pane casements. On the rear (south) elevation are two projecting bays. The east bay has an enclosed porch with 6/6 sash windows. The other bay projects




slightly and has three-part casement windows. This building was not constructed as part of the Bata Shoe company complex, and does not contribute significantly to the architectural theme or to the history of the complex.

House 5 66 Belcamp Drive (Non-contributing resource)

House 5 is a single-family house located on the south side of Belcamp Drive near its intersection with Bata Drive. It is a onestory, two-bay gable-roofed brick and frame house partially covered with asbestos siding. It was built in 1952 and is outside of the complex's period of significance.

House 6 60 Belcamp Drive (Contributing resource)

House 6 is located on the south side of Belcamp Drive, between the road and the Bush River at the southern end of the Bata Shoe Company factory complex. Both the main house and a small garage are located on an approximately 1/2-acre grassy lot flanked by other houses along Belcamp Drive. The main house and garage are both in use and are in an excellent state of preservation.

The house is a 2 1/2-story, 6-bay, hipped-roof, stone-and-brick house built in the Queen Anne-Colonial Revival style. Rough-cut, black-and-tan-colored granite stone is used for approximately onehalf of the first story, with brick laid in Flemish bond for the rest of the building. Brick laid in a geometric pattern defines the cornice above the second story. Yellow-colored brick is used on the attic story and dormer windows. The hipped roof is covered with slate shingles. There are two brick chimneys, each with corbelled caps, at the east and west gable ends.

The one-story entrance portico on the north has Doric columns and a segmental-arched roof. The front door has a 12-pane window, sidelights and a segmental-arched fanlight.

Windows on the house are in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Most windows have 4/4, 6/6 or 8/8 sash and have rough-cut granite ledges.

The east facade has an enclosed brick entrance porch with a roundarched glass-and-wood door. The door is flanked by paired 4/4 sash windows.




The river (south) elevation features a three-bay-wide projecting bay with rounded corners. The bay is built of yellow brick and has two 12-pane casement windows and French doors. The gable on this elevation has a bell-cast roof and is covered with slate shingles. There is a smaller projecting bay on the southwest corner built of red brick. It, too, has 12-pane casement windows.

To the east of the house is a one-story, two-bay, hipped-roof brick garage. A band of yellow brick runs beneath the wooden box cornice. Windows are flanked by a row of glass blocks. Wooden garage doors are located on the west elevation.

House 6 is considered a contributing resource because it was utilized by upper company management living on the complex. Its clear difference in style from the utilitarian duplexes, hotel, and factory buildings reflect, albeit unconsciously, the structure of the company.

House 7 (Non-contributing resource)

House 7 is a one-and-one-half-story, three-bay brick house with a sharply-pitched gable roof. The entrance is faced with stone and features a round-arched door. Windows have paired 4/4 sashes with stone lintels and ledges. There is also some decorative brickwork in the north gable of the house. Nearby is a two-bay brick garage building. It was built in the 1960s and is outside the complex's period of significance.

House 8 (Contributing resource) 57 Third Avenue

This house is located on a large tree-shaded lot on Third Avenue along the Bush River. It is a tall one-story, six-bay hipped roof brick house painted white with projecting eaves. Windows have 9/9 paired sash with false shutters. The front entrance is recessed and flanked by tall floor-to-ceiling windows. There is a large semi-enclosed porch on the rear overlooking the swimming pool and the river. To the west is a small pyramidal-roofed brick shed with a stone-faced east facade. Both buildings are in excellent condition. On the east is a two-bay brick garage in fair condition.

House 8 is considered a contributing resource because it was utilized by upper company management living on the complex. Its clear difference in style from the utilitarian duplexes, hotel, and factory buildings reflect, albeit unconsciously, the structure of the company. House 8 is now the office for the BLC land



development company.

House 9 (Non-contributing resource) 55 Third Avenue


House 9 is a one-and-one-half-story, three-bay, gable-roofed brick house with a cross gable roof. It was built in the early 1960s and is outside of the complex's period of significance.

House 10 (Non-contributing resource) 51 Third Avenue

This is a one-and-one-half-story, three-bay Cape-Cod-style brick house with a central entrance and 8/8 sash windows. It was built in the 1960s and is outside the complex's period of significance.

Five Lampposts (Contributing resources)

Five Lampposts are placed around the property. These were constructed as part of the overall complex, and are located in front of Building 8 as well as among the duplexes.

Tennis Court (Contributing resource)

A Tennis Court is located at the corner of Third Street and B street. The court was reportedly constructed in the 1950's. In the 1980's, Michel Bonhomme, then manager of the factory, sponsored tennis tournaments within the company (Higgins 1996) .

Bata Shoe Canpany Canplex Name o1 Praperty

8. Statement of Significance

HA-1562 site/inventory DUllber

- Applicable National Register Criteria (Matk "•" in one at more boxes lor the criteria qualifying the proper1y lot National Register lilting.)

es A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

0 B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

~ c Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

0 D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mar1t "x" in all lhe boxes lhal epply.)

Property is:

0 A. owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.

0 B removed trom its original location.

0 C a birthplace or grave.

. -0 D a cemetery.

0 E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.

0 F a commemorative property.

0 G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.

Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain lhe significance ol lhe property on one or more continuation sheets.)

9. Major Bibliographical References

Bibliography

Jieg1st.rat.1on r·ora page 3

Harford County. Maryl and County and sa.18

"Areas of Significance (Enler ca&egorin from Instructions)

ARCHITECTURE INDUSTRY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Period of Signific.nce

1938-1939 1939-present

1938-1939

Significant Dates N/A

Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above)

Cultural Affiliation N/A

Architect/Builder Vladimir Karfik, Architect

(Cite the books. alticles. and CICher eources used In preparing this tonn on one or more continuation sheets.)

Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data:

0 preliminary determination of individual listing (36 ~ State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested 0 Other State agency

0 previously listed in the National Register 0 Federal agency 0 previously determined eligible by the National 0 Local government

Register 0 University 0 designated a National Historic Landmark 0 Other 0 recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository:

# ---------- Maryland Historical Trust 0 recorded by Historic American Engineering

Record#---------



STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE


The Bata Shoe Company factory complex is significant under Criterion A on the state level as one of the most intact industrial/residential complexes of the mid 20th century in Maryland. It is not another example of the American company towns like those built in and around Baltimore and the coal region of Western Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries (Ware 1991, Reutter 1988, the Baltimore book). Rather the complex comes from the ideas from the European Garden City concepts and the Bauhaus School (Fishman 1977, Naylor 1985, Gropius 1967). Built by the Bata Shoe Company in 1938-1939, the complex includes not only manufacturing and processing buildings, but residences for its workers and management, and a building once containing a restaurant, post-office and community center. By the 1930s however, the provision by companies of housing for their employees was no longer common, making the Bata Shoe Company complex one of the last of its kind in the state.

The complex is also significant under Criterion C in the area of architecture on the state level. Both the residential and industrial buildings show the clear influence of European precepts of industrial design, including the trend-setting Bauhaus architectural style then current in Germany and central Europe. The Bauhaus ideas of unity of theory from industrial and architectural design (Gropius 1965, Naylor 1985), based on the principle of form following function, parallelled Le Corbusier's concepts in architecture (Brooks 1983), and resonated with Thomas Bata's application of the same principles to factory and worker housing design (Sekota 1968: 224-233) . The Bata Shoe Company factory complex in Belcamp reflects these exciting early 20th century currents in architecture and design.




MARYLAND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN DATA

HISTORIC CONTEXT

Geographic Organization: Piedmont

Chronological Development Period: Modern Period

Historic Period Themes: Architecture; Landscape Architecture and Community Planning; Economic

RESOURCE TYPE

Category(s): Building; object

Historic Environment: Rural

Historic Function and Use: Industrial and Residential

Known Design Sources: Vladimir Karfik (architect)

Historic Contexts: Architecture; Industry



HISTORY AND SUPPORT


The Bata Shoe Factory Complex is the United States representative of the world wide Bata Shoe Company. The Bata Shoe Company began in 1894 in Czechoslovakia. The founder of the company, Thomas Bata, began as a shoe maker. He made several trips to the United States. On the first, in the early twentieth century, he worked in Lynn, Massachusetts, then returned to Czechoslovakia, where he incorporated American machinery into his production. On his second trip he was very impressed by Henry Ford and the concept of assembly line. On return Bata incorporated the ideas of mass production into efficient large scale shoe production (Berge 1939) . He developed a factory in rural Czechoslovakia at Zlin. A parallel elaboration of a world-wide marketing plan and strategy provided the driving force for the improvements in production.

An important factor in his subsequent success was the development of an all inclusive system, the Bata System (Bloomfield 1995, Cekota 1968) . The Bata system not only covered all aspects of shoe production from raw materials to marketing and commercial sales, but included housing and services for workers in an all inclusive complex associated with the factory. A number of concepts in the structure of his factory that may have presaged ideas we now laud in the Japanese and other competitors. These include the idea of making each unit a separate profit center, and "empowering" workers to have opinions, be profit sharers, and involved in the profitability of the whole enterprise. As the depression hit Bata dropped his prices 50%, and did it with a wage drop of 50%. He attributes this to the workers all feeling they are part of the company. Bloomfield points out that the workers didn't necessarily have very much choice, there was only one factory in the town.

Through the history of the enterprise, it took rural, untrained (and un-unionized) workers, and formed them entirely in the image of the company. They were educated by the company, and as it grew, housed, entertained, and fed by the company. This led specifically to the design of the facilities in Zlin, by design overtly as a "Garden City."

The company drew on modern European concepts such as the Garden City concept and the ideas of the Bauhaus. The Bata complexes' style draws heavily from common ideas of the Bauhaus, of architects like Walter Gropius and Peter Behrens. This "form follows function" philosophy of architecture served very well the integrated, all-inclusive life of the people in the Bata system. The rectilinear, honest, concrete and brick duplexes repeated the themes expressed in the concrete framed, brick and glass factory, easily visible from the houses. Gropius' concern for the "social




duties and responsibilities of the architect"(Pevsner 1968:206) resonated with the paternalistic but beneficent Bata system.

The original complex at Zlin involved the efforts of three architects: Jan Kotera, of the Prague Academy of Creative Art, Frantisek L. Gahura, and Vladimir Karfik. In addition Le Corbusier was asked to contribute to design both of the complex in Zlin and to design of store buildings in Europe. Le Corbusier' s work includes extensive drawings and plans for the complex at Zlin (Brooks 1983:261-363). However, according to the biographer of Thomas Bata (Cekota 1968) a design by Corbusier was rejected. Le Corbusier's drawings include the prototype for the lettering of the Bata sign (Brooks 1983:335). Vladimir Karfik, who later became the primary architect for the Bata Company, studied under Corbusier.

For Czechoslovakia there is no question that this was a radical change. It was hugely successful, not just as an industrial enterprise, but as a system. Many people reported enormous popularity and loyalty to the company. As the company continued to grow in the 1930's, it expanded its complex at Zlin. As the factory required more and more labor, housing became a problem, and the company developed a self sufficient concept for the factory, including single family residences. This was expressed in the company slogan "work together, live separately." Bloomfield ( 1995) compares this to the English Garden City concept (see also Fishman 1977). A similar Bata Company Garden City incorporating all elements for the factory population, from housing to theater to swimming pools and stores, was constructed in East Tilbury, England (Thurrock Borough Council 1993).

The Bata Shoe Company purchased land in Belcamp in 1933, and began construction of a Garden City at Belcamp in spring of 1939. This included factory and office buildings, a hotel, a recreation center, upscale houses for management and a complex of duplexes for the workers. The company correctly predicted that Czechoslovakia lay in the path of the German expansion under Hitler, and established a holding company based in Switzerland to allow the company to continue without the headquarters in Zlin.

When Bata came to Maryland, in many ways the location selected paralleled the original settlement in Zlin. Wyatt (1939) credits cheap land, low taxes, and transportation facilities, particularly highway and railway, to the location of the factory at Belcamp. Thomas Bata, the founder of the company, was a pioneer in the use of modern transportation, both road and air, and clearly the Bata family was conscious of the location of Belcamp on a major road (then U.S. 1) and railroad, as well as potential water transport. While located on the Bay, along the railroad, and on a major road




system, it was located (deliberately?) in a rural area away f:om the city, paralleling the location of the original factory at Zl1n. This provided a basis for building a self sufficient company entity, to draw on a fresh (and un-unionized) population. Preference was immediately given to workers who had graduated from Harford County High Schools (Wyatt 1939).

Bata constructed a Garden City in this location, with housing going up at the same time as the factory. Vladimir Karfik, a Czech architect, designed the buildings at Belcamp, and played a role in the complexes developed in Zlin and other parts of the world. Karfik, who studied under Le Corbusier and later worked in the U.S. with Frank Lloyd Wright (Bloomfield 1995) used a consistent, modern style in all these complexes. The Bata Factory at Belcamp matches the style of the complexes at Zlin and England.

Vladimir Karfik was the architect for the Belcamp project. Mr. Karfik was involved in the purchasing of the property in 1933. He was at that time working with Frank Lloyd Wright and with Holabird & Root (Van Vynckt 1993). Karfik was apprenticed to Le Corbusier, and Bata recognized his influence. However, the "Garden City" concept expressed both at Zlin and at Belcamp have much more in common with the thinking of Ebeneezer Howard and Frank Lloyd Wright than with Le Corbusier' s vision of a high rise utopia (Fishman 1977). Thomas Bata is quoted (Cekota 1968:233) as specifically opposing apartment buildings for workers. One of the many slogans which were posted to inspire the workers was "Work Together, live apart". At Zlin the duplex buildings were actually designed so that the entrances faced in different directions (Cekota 1968:232), so workers did not have to see each other entering and leaving the buildings. The entrances on the duplexes at Belcamp are placed in a more conventional side by side arrangement, but are at opposite ends of the same side of the building, rather than grouped together in the center. There is no reason to believe Le Corbusier had any direct role in the design of the Belcamp complex.

In addition to the factory, the Bata Shoe Factory complex included a number of different buildings. In an article describing the construction of the Bata complex, a caption for the photo showing the warehouse being constructed identifies it as off ice buildings (Wyatt 1939) . As Bloomfield (1995) describes, the Bata workspaces were all designed with uniform floor space dimensions of 80 X 20 meters. This undoubtedly helped the readaptation of the building from an office to a warehouse function. None of the informants interviewed remembered the warehouse in any other use than industrial.

The other buildings represented a variety of residential




structures. The hotel building was a major center for the residential complex. On the first floor the hotel had a shoe store (Bata, of course) , a variety/5 and 10 store, a grocery store, a bank (Union Trust), a barber and beauty shop, and a cafeteria. The stores were each charged a nominal amount by Bata for rent.

On the second floor was a gymnasium which was used by Sokol, for gymnastics and exercise programs. One Saturday a month there was a dance for company people. The hotel and gymnasium were the center for a number of other events. Every year there was a "Long Service Award" dinner in the Gymnasium on the second floor of the hotel. The old Czech people had a "Vinterbrane" Grape Harvest Dance in October (Higgins 1996) . A number of other events took place for residents and company employees. Belcamp had baseball games, and company employees and their families would take buses to the harbor and go on moonlight cruises. Bull roasts were held on the grounds.

Part of the second floor and the third floor of the hotel had rooms for single women. The fourth floor and part of the fifth floor had rooms for single men. The other half of the 5th floor and the 6th floor was for couples, mostly without children. These were all workers. Other worker families stayed in a group of 8 to 10 clapboard houses, now torn down, in a section called Hollywood, back behind the warehouse. Those were torn down in the 70's.

The duplexes were reserved for front line supervisors, and lower management . Mrs . Barbara Higgins, who provided much of our information, and her husband, Joseph moved into one of the duplexes, because he was the County police officer assigned to Bel camp. Bata had an arrangement to provide housing for the officer assigned by the county to Belcamp, in exchange for the assignment of an officer to the complex. Barbara and her husband moved in on October 31 of 1960. There were 2500 people working for Bata at that time. Barbara and her husband were paying $7 a week for rent. When they moved out in April of 1974, the rent had gone up to $17 a week. In the 80's cut backs and layoffs meant some of the duplexes became empty, so they were opened to workers with families.

In addition there are large single residences along the Bush River, like building 6 and Building 8 (now the BLC company office). Mrs. Higgins had never heard that any of the houses were built for Mr. Bata. Mr. Haza, the first manager of the factory complex, chose to build a place in Bel Air rather than live in the building on the property. In the Early 50s Mr. Victor Schmidt, who took over after Mr. Haza, lived in House 6. Mr. Doezal, another early manager, lived in house 8, the present BLC office.


HA-1582

Section No. 8 Page 7 Bata Shoe Company Factory Complex Harford County

The hotel was vacated in the mid 1980's. torn down in the 70's, The duplexes three or four years ago. Some of the river, of course, are still in use, as

The Hollywood complex was were occupied up to about large buildings along the is the factory.

The Bata complex at Belcamp initially was met with considerable support. The Belcamp complex was intended to serve as a new world headquarters for the company, as Zlin fell under the German invasion. American Labor Unions soon began a strong, and ultimately successful resistance to the Bata Shoe Company (Harford Democrat and Aberdeen Enterprise 12/1/1939) . They interpreted the Bata System as another manifestation of "company towns" which kept wages low and kept workers almost indentured to jobs through indebtedness to company stores and reliance on company provided housing. Maryland examples include coal mine company towns like Lonaconing and Mt. Savage (Ware 1991) and closer examples such as the factory towns along the Jones Falls in Baltimore at Hampden (Harvey 1991), and the Bethlehem steel complex at Sparrows Point (Reutter 1988, Zeidman 1991). These, too, incorporated company constructed and owned housing, and other services, and were quite clearly aimed at preventing unionization.

There is probably truth to both sides of this argument. At least one informant reported that when her father, who was an American Czech, began working for Bata, he came home the first night and said to his wife, "We're saving our money, so we can get out of here as soon as we can afford to." The company was clearly hierarchical, not egalitarian, and the top management was largely reserved for Czechs. This is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the architecture, which reflected the social structure of the Bata system. Workers lived in rooms in the hotel, or in a series of clapboard houses called "Hollywood", located behind the warehouse and torn down in the 1970' s. Senior supervisors and lower management lived in the duplexes. The houses along the river were reserved for the top management, if they did not choose, as did Mr. John Hoza, the first manager, to live in houses constructed in Bel Air, or other locations. The difference between a room or apartment in the hotel, or one of the large houses like the present BLC headquarters graphically illustrates the status of the workers and the upper management.

A second, unspoken element in the resistance to the Bata Shoe complex was undoubtedly concern that a large number of foreign workers would be brought in. This probably came in part from a Depression inspired resistance to having any jobs taken that were so scarce for Americans, but also a certain amount of xenophobic resistance to foreigners from eastern Europe. The struggle to keep Bata out was waged specifically in the area of permissions for




Czechoslovakian workers to teach the Bata System. Bata imported workers, but fought unsuccessfully to get the their work permits extended (The Harford Democrat and Aberdeen Enterprise, 1/5/1940) . Ultimately because of this pressure from the labor unions, Bata established their world headquarters near Toronto.

A substantial Czech and Slovak community did still come in over the years through Ba ta. There appears to have been considerable assimilation. Mrs. Higgins, our major oral informant, said Mr. Kozovs and Mr. Novack, early high executives in the company, were educated in the states, and spoke English from the start. English classes were offered, and she was aware of no effort to keep the Czech language alive. In later interviews Eva Slezak, who lived in the Hotel in the 1950s, reported that the upper administration was Czech, and they would have meetings entirely in Czech. Sokol (gymnastics and physical activities) and other activities like the October wine fest indicate some continuity of Czech culture.

By and large the Czech families did appear to learn English, and became assimilated with the American population. The Baltimore Sun reported (Nov. 20, 1945) that the population was largely becoming assimilated at that time, six years after the construction began, and members of the first group would respond "I'm no Czech, I'm a Yank", if asked. On the other hand, at the funeral in 1942 of Frank Muska, Director of Bata Enterprise, in Belcamp, the Men's Choral society (of the factory?) sang the Czech National Anthem (Baltimore Sun 8/21/42) .

In retrospect, the labor unions were correct to identify the paternalistic Bata Garden cities as having similarities to the company towns in the coal region and at Sparrows point. However, they did not identify the company's commitment to the workers throughout their lives that was part of Bata's approach to this system. The loyalty to Bata reported from employees in Czechoslovakia is paralleled to some degree in Maryland. While doing the research for this project, we continually encountered favorable stories from people living and working in the vicinity about experiences of themselves, their family, and acquaintances working for Bata.

The "Bata System" represents an important local manifestation of a 20th Century international development. This development grew out of specific industrial American developments from American shoe manufacturing, as well as the Ford concepts of assembly line production, which was successfully transplanted to Europe. The comprehensive company town of the Bata Shoe factory complex very clearly expressed its unity with the modern, functional consistent architectural style expressed by Vladimir Karfik. The Bata Shoe




factory complex represents a specific expression of the "Bata System" that mirrors those constructed in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, England, and Canada. As Bloomfield (1995) notes, the complexes in Toronto and Belcamp represent a system that grew out of American industrial inventions, which came full circle by returning to America with the Bata Shoe Company in Belcamp.


Section No. 9, Page 1

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES


Berge, Paul, "Hold Harford Face-to-Face with Industry" The Baltimore Sun, June 18, 1939.

Brooks, H. Allen (General Editor) 1983 The Le Corbusier Archive. A series in Garland Architectural

Archives, Alvadar Tzonis, Gen. ed. Vol, Le Corbusier Buildings and Projects 1933-193 7. Garland Publishing Inc. New York and London, and the Foundation Le Corbusier.

Bloomfield, Gerald T. "Industrial Modernism in Practice: The Development and Diffusion of the Bata System" Paper presented in the Symposium, Industrial Modernism: Architecture and Ideology by The Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, April 21, 1995.

Cekota, Anthony 1968 Entrepreneur Extraordinary. The Biography of Tomas Bata.

Edizioni Internazionali Sociali, University Press of the International University of Social Studies. Rome.

Fishman, Robert 1977 Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century: Ebeneezer Howard,

Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. Basic Books, New York

Gropius, Walter 1965 The New Architecture and the Bauhaus. Translated from the

German by P. Morton Shand, with an introduction by Frank Pick. The MIT Press, Cambridge.

Harford Democrat and Aberdeen Enterprise

12/1/1939 "Bat'a Executive Office Moves Here-Principal Office of the Shoe Company to Be At Belcamp; CIO Denounces Company."

1/5/1940 "Bata Protests Immigration Order to Dismiss Sixty-Two Czech Workmen."

Harvey, Bill, "Hampden-Woodberry: Baltimore's Mill Villages" Chapter 3 in The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History. Elizabeth Fee, Linda Shapes, and Linda Zeidman, eds. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1991.

Lizon, Peter 1993 Karfik, Vladimir. in International Dictionary of Architects

and Architecture-1 Architects. Randall J. Van Yynckt, editor, St. James Press, Detroit, London, Washington D.C.




Maryland Historical Trust. Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey. HA-1582, Bata Shoe Company. n.d.

Naylor, Gillian 1985 The Bauhaus Reassessed, Sources and Design Theory. The

Herbert Press, London.

Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Sources of Modern Architecture and Design Oxford University Press, New York and Toronto 1968

Reuter, Mark, Sparrows Point. Making Steel- The Rise and Ruin of American Industrial Might. Summit Books, New York

Thurrock Borough Council 1993 Bata- the "garden village" with everything-to be conserved.

Thurrock Talk.

Ware, Donna M. Green Glades & Sooty Gob Piles Maryland Historical & Cultural Publications, Crownsville, Maryland 1991

Wyatt, Keith 1939 New Shoes Pouring from Bat' a Plant. The Baltimore Sun, Nov.

19, 1939

Zeidman .. Linda, "Sparrows Point, Dundalk, Higlandtown, Old West Baltimore: Home of Gold Dust and the Union Card." Chapter 9 in The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History. Elizabeth Fee, Linda Shopes, and Linda Zeidman, eds. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1991.

Oral History:

Higgins, Barbara 1996 Interviews on June 10 and 20, 1996

Slezak, Eva 1996 Interview on June 15, 1996

Bata Shoe ccmpany Complex HA-1582 Name cl Property -..... 1 t,...e-/..:1-n-ve_n.....,t-o-ry~n'."'.'\mbe==r-

__ 1 o. Geographical Data

14.75 Acreage of Property------------

UTM Refer.nces (Pi.ce eddilional UTM 19ferenc9S on a continuation 8hNL)

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Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundarie5 of the property on a continuation lhMI.)

See Continuation Sheet Boundary Justification (Eliplain why the boundaries were Mlecled on a continuation lheel.)

11. Form Prepared By

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Harford·County, Maryland County and Stale

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Geoffrey Henry M.A. and Joseph w. Hopkins, III, Ph.D. nameJtn~--------=-----~---------------------------------------------------organization Joseph Hopkins Associates Inc.

street & number 3211 Berkshire Road

date February 14, 1996

telephone (410) 319-9190

city or town ___ Ba_lt_iroo_r_e _____________ state _MD _____ zip code _2_1_2_1_4 ___ _

Additional Documentation - Submit the following items with the completed form:

Continuation Sheets

Maps

A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.

Photographs

Representative black and white photographs of the property.

Addition11I Items (Check with lhe SHPO °' FPO for any additional Items)

Property Owner (Complete this item at the request ol SHPO °'FPO.)

name BLC Properties

street & number 49 Third Street telephone (410) 575-6730

city or town Belcamp state _MD ____ zip code _2_1_0_1_7 __ _

Peperwortl Reduction Act Swa-nt: Thlt information la being collected tor epplications lo the National Register of Historic Places lo nominale - properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and lo amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain

a benefrt in accordance with the National Historic: Presentalion Ad, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et 19q.).

Estimated Burden Statement: Public '9P0'ting burden tor this torm ii estima1ed to average 18.1 hours per response including time for reviewing instructiOns, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form 10 !he Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service. P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 2001~7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduclions Pro;ec:ts (1024-0018), Washington. DC 20503.



VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

Ha-1582 Bata Shoe Company Complex Harford County

The boundaries of the Bata Shoe factory complex coincide with the legal boundaries of Parcel 25 , Tax Map 74 of the real estate assessment records of Harford County.

BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION

The boundaries of the nominated property contain the resources historically associated with the operations of the Bata Shoe Company at its Belcamp, Maryland site.

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HA-1582 Bata Shoe Company Bel camp t'ri va te

1939

The Bata Shoe Company factory town is a unique example in America of community planning based on the principles of modern architectural theory popularized by the Bauhaus school. The architectural style is based on Bauhaus design with influences of early twentieth century Dutch brick masonry and American construction technology of the 1920s and 1930s. The town plan was an effort to improve the lives of working people by providing a self-contained environment withemphasis on balanced work and recreation, closeness to nature and mental and physical health.

The town encompasses the area of Belcamp, Maryland and includes the factory buildings, workers' housing and a hotel/community center. The main factory buildings are related by a common emphasis on visible concrete structure with brick infill. The workers' housing is of two types: individual houses along the river shore and about 20 duplex houses between the main factory buildings and the warehouse.

The main factory production building is a five-story,concrete frame, rectangular building which has been somewhat altered in recent years. About~ mile northeast is the former office building, now a warehouse. The hotel/community center is east of the factory and has five stories with dormitory rooms and commercial space.

MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST

HA - 1582 MAGI #1315825814

INVENTORY FORM FOR STATE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY

UN AME HISTORIC

AND/OR COMMON

Bata Shoe Company

flLOCATION STREET & NUMBER

Main Corporate Limits of Town CITY. TOWN

Bel camp _ VICINITY OF

STATE

Maryl and

II CLASSIFICATION

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS ADISTRICT _PUBDC MCCUPIED

_BUILDING(S) LPRIVATE _UNOCCUPIED

_STRUCTURE _BOTH _WORK IN PROGRESS

_SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE _OBJECT _IN PROCESS ){_YES RESTRI CTEO

_BEING CONSIDERED _YES UNRESTRICTED

_NO

DOWNER OF PROPERTY NAME

Bata Shoe Co., Inc. STREET & NUMBER

CITY. TOWN

Be lea mp _ v1c1N1TY oF

llLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE.

REGISTRY oF DEEDs,ETc Harford County Court House STREET & NUMBER

CITY. TOWN

Bel Air. Maryland

D REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE

DATE

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

COUNTY

Harford

PRESENT USE

_AGRICULTURE _MUSEUM

_COMMERCIAL _PARK

_EDUCATIONAL ~PRIVATE RESIDENCE

_ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS

_GOVERNMENT _SCIENTIFIC

XINDUSTRIAL _TRANSPORTATION

_MILITARY _OTHER

Telephone #: ( 301) 272-2000

STATE , zip code Maryland 21017

Liber #: Folio #:

STATE

_FEDERAL -STATE _COUNTY _LOCAL

DEPOSITORY FOR

SURVEY RECORDS

CITY. TOWN STATE

ID DESCRIPTION

LEXCELLENT

_GOOD

_ FAIR

CONDITION

_DETER !ORATED

_RUINS

_UNEXPOSED

CHECK ONE

_UNALTERED

~LTERED

HA-15?~

CHECK ONE

~ORIGINAL SITE

_MOVED DATE. __ _

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The Bata Shoe Company factory town encompasses the entire area of the town of Belcamp, Maryland on the southeast side of U.S. 40 between the highway and the Bush River about 23 miles northeast of Baltimore.

The Belcamp area includes the Bata Shoe Factory buildings, workers' housing, and a company-owned hotel/community center building. In addition, several privately owned houses which pre-date the factory complex are located in the district.

The complex is laid out in a generally axial plan. The main access is via a street at right angle to U.S. 40. From this street, parking areas and driveways open immediately toward the southwest around the main factory buildings. A second street runs northeast from the main street, along which are several brick duplex workers' houses. At the end of this street and in axis with its centerline is the former office building, near a warehouse. The main street passes the five-story community center building and ends in a winding road which parallels the river shoreline.

The architectural style of the complex is Modern, with a strong Bauhaus basis and influences of early twentieth century Dutch brick buildings, and American construction technology of the 1920's and '30's. The main factory buildings are related by a common emphasis on visible concrete structure with brick infill. The workers' housing is of two types: individual houses along the river shore, some of which pre-date the factory complex; and about 20 duplex houses built along the streets between the main factory buildings and t.he warehouse. The individual houses are varied stylistically, from frame summer cottages to brick residences in a vaguely Tudor Revival motif or indeterminant "modern".

The larger buildings in the complex are widely spaced, suggesting the builders' intention of future development. The workers' duplex housing was located for convenient access to either the factory or the office building. An unbuilt open space between the duplexes and the offiee building reinforces the expansion plan. Another open space between the factory and the recreation center has been partially occupied by parking facilities and low-level factory expansion. The individual houses along the river retain a park-like setting with winding roads and driveways and shade trees. The major portion of the complex is open space with tree plantings lining the streets between the duplexes and bordering the playing fields near the recreation center.

The area of the complex was largely farmland prior to the factory construction. Several small summer cottages were located along the river edge with unpaved roads connecting them.

The factory and residential buildings are generally in excellent condition, although altered in both exterior and interior. The recreation center has undergone numerous interior modifications and is at present only partially occupied by the company cafeteria and a few residents. Plans for its reuse include remodeling of the mostly single rooms on the upper floors into apartments for rental.

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

continued

CONTINUED.

II SIGNIFICANCE

PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW

_PREHfSTORIC

_1400-1499

_1500-1599

_1600-1699

_1700-1799

_1800-1899

*1900-

---ARCH EULU<.i Y-PRE HISTORIC

----ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC

--AGRICULTURI;

~RCHITECTURE ___ART

_COMMERCE

_COMMUNICATIONS

SPECIFIC DATES 1939

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

-"=OMMUNITY PLANNING

_CONSERVATION

-ECONOMICS

-EDUCATION

_ENGINEERING

-EX PLO RATION/SETTLEMENT

_INDUSTRY

_INVENTION

-LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

-LAW

_LITERATURE

_MILITARY

_MUSIC

_PHILOSOPHY

_POLITI CS/GOVERNMENT

_RELIGION

_SCIENCE

_SCULPTURE

!£so CIA LI Hu MANITAR IAN

_THEATER

_TRANSPORTATION

_OTHER !SPECIFY!

BUILDER/ARCHITECT Architect: Vladimir Karfik

Construction Engineer: Joseph Polasek

The Bata Shoe Company factory town is a unique example in America of community planning based on the principles of modern architectural theory popularized by the Bauhaus school. The town factory complex was designed in Czechoslovakia according to a standardized plan used by Bata for its main plant at Zlin and at other plants world-wide. The architectural style is based on Bauhaus design, with influences of early twentieth century Dutch brick masonry and American construction technology of the 1920's and '30's. The town plan was an effort to improve the lives of working people by providing a self-contained environment with emphasis on balanced work and recreation, closeness to nature, and mental and physical health.

History and Support:

The Bata Shoe Company was founded in Zlin, Czechoslovakia in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, Thomas Bat'a (original spelling) came to Lowell, Massachusetts to study American working methods in the shoemaking industry. He was impressed by the production line process developed for the American auto industry by Henry Ford and was struck with the idea of adopting this method to the shoemakers trade, which was still largely a bench operation.

Bat'a returned to Czechoslovakia and in succeeding years deve+oped his idea and expanded his business into one of the largest industries in Europe. He became known as the "Henry Ford of Europe" for his innovative moving belt production line. Bat'a built factories in other European countries and India and was ready to build in South America by the 1930's. His factories were all built on a standardized plan designed after the home plant in Zlin. This town was virtually company-owned, with an organized plan of factory buildings, housing, recreational facilities, schools, churches, and landscaped open space.

Thomas Bat'a was killed in a plane crash near Zlin in 1932. The company leadership was assumed by his half-brother, Jan Bat'a who immediately went forward with expansion plans for America. Land on the main highway and railroad route between Baltimore and Philadelphia was acquired beginning in 1933, centered around the present site at Belcamp, and includtng the 1768 Georgial\mansion,Sophia's Dairy, now listed on the National Register. (This site is not in the district).

Continued ...... . CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Ne* York Times, various articles, 1938-39 Baltimore Sun, various articles, 1938-1970, in vertical file at Enoch Pratt

Library, Maryland Dept.

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET I~ NECESSARY

lr!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY _______ _

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE

STATE

mFORM PREPARED BY NAME I TITLE

ORGANIZATION MHTJSHA Surveyor

STREET & NUMBER

21 State Circle CITY OR TOWN

AnaDpolis

COUNTY

COUNTY

DATE

January 22, 1981 TELEPHONE

301-269-2438 STATE

Maryland 21401

The Maryland Historic Sites Inventory was officially created by an Act of the Maryland Legislature, to be found in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 41, Section 181 KA, 1974 Supplement.

The Survey and Inventory are being prepared for information and record purposes only and do not constitute any infringement of individual property rights.

RETURN TO: Maryland Historical Trust The Shaw House, 21 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (301) 267-1438

PS- 1108

Bata Shoe Company HA - 1582

7. Oescri pt ion

Continuation Sheet #1

The district is distinct from the farmlands surrounding it by its nature as a factory complex. Housing developments north and south of Belcamp are too distant to be considered as expansions of the town. Bata company policy has contributed to the separateness of the district with its ownership of the surrounding land and original intention of a self-contained community based on the factory.

FACTORY BUILDINGS:

The main factory production building is a five-story concrete frame rectangular building located adjacent to the main entrance to Belcamp at U.S. 40. The original structure was 260 x 86 feet and consisted of brick and glass bays formed by the concrete frame which is visible in the wall surface. Several alterations to the building have created additional bays and a large one-story extension to the southwest which almost completely surrounds the first floor of the original factory. A solid beige brick wall on the northeast corner of one of the added portions has a large vertical sign identifying the factory: "BATA, Shoemakers to the World,"

Behind the five-story building are three one-story flat roofed office and shop buildings which date from the 1950's or 1960's,

About 1/4 mile northeast of the main factory building is the former office building, now a warehouse. This building is three stories with a central pavilion. The concrete frame is at the wall surface as in the factory building. The brick infill area is larger and each bay has paired 8-light metal frame windows. The central pavilion has a recessed glass block infill. The recess is edged in white concrete. This was the main entrance and the lower portion has been covered with a solid wall with a door in the east corner. A metal balcony and a door inset into the glass block infill top the first floor wall.

Hotel/Community Center:

This building is five stories high with a central pavilion featuring balconies on the northwest facade and a wide, open stairwell with glass panels on the southeast or river facade.

The vertical concrete frame is not visible creating a more horizontal effect by the white bands of each floor slab. The red brick exterior is accented by a white stucco entrance with a balcony overhang. The first floor on the northeast facade has mostly display windows as this was the original location of the company store, restaurant, and other commercial services. Some windows have been removed or boarded up. The second floor, originally office space has large plate glass windows. On the residential floors, paired 6/1 windows predominate. The flat roof has a white railing, indicating a former roof garden or terrace.

Bata Shoe Com~3ny HA - 1582

7. Description

Workers Housing:


The duplex houses are square, flat roofed brick structures with projecting entrance foyers. Each facade has mirror-image 6/1 paired windows in the first floor and four regularly spaced 6/1 windows in the second floor. Slight variations in the shape of the foyers and alterations in exterior materials are the only noticeable differences between the buildings.

The individual houses vary widely in style, scale, and materials. These houses need further research to determine their dates and function in the overall plan. A onestory beige brick house east of the recreation building may have been intended for the manager of the factory.

Boundary Justification:

The boundary was drawn to include the nucleus of the planned town. Bata owns other land on the west side of U.S. 40, but, since this was never developed, it was ex¢luded from the district.

Bata Shoe Company HA - 1582

8. Significance


The invasion of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany in 1938 accelerated the Belcamp project. The home plant at Zlin was virtually appropriated by the Nazis, and the Bata company was considering relocation of its headquarters. The Belcamp site, in a free country with no plans for war, was the most attractive candidate. Accordingly, ground was broken for the factory building in the spring of 1939. Housing units, the community center and the office building were under construction at the same time. Czech engineers and factory workers were brought to the U.S. to supervise the project. By the fall of 1939, production was underway in the factory.

Plans for the transfer of the company headquarters were stalled by a continuing problem of labor importation. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service was pressured by American ~hoemakers' unions to restrict the number of Czech workers admitted to work and instruct at Belcamp. The Bata method was feared as too paternalistic, creating abnormally low wages in the non-union shop. In Europe, the company trained and educated young people from ages 16 to 20 and gave them factory jobs until age 30, when they were allowed to return to their former occupations if they wished. Promising workers were given further training as supervisors and executives. In conjunction with this process, schools, dormitories, stores, and leisure facilities were pro-vided by the company. The young workers had no need to leave the company town for most life activities.

The socialism of the Bata method was feared in America, and the unions eventually prevailed. The Bata company built another plant in Canada and located its headquarters in England during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The Belcamp plan was never expanded on the scale envisioned by Jan Bat'a, but it became a thriving industry in the Harford County area and is still the largest employer in the county. Further expansion of the plant has been geared to higher power and labor costs and has thus not been on the scale of the original buildings. Other plants have been built in West Virginia and California, but the Belcamp plant is still the American headquarters.

The Bata factory town, although less than 50 years old, is a unique example of early modern town and social planning. Its outlines have not been seriously altered and the intent of the builders to make a complete environment is clearly apparent. The complex was meant to be a total environment based on new European principles of social improvement through architecture and planning. There are precedents in 19th century American mill towns, but no 20th century developments exhibit the totality and social concern of the Bata experiment, in spite of its failure to complete the original plan.

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